


Idle Town

by possiblyParanormal



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cities, Dave and John are Epic Gamers, Gay teens, Hanging Out, Humanstuck, John Egbert is Tall, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Rose Lalonde Likes Tea, Rose Lalonde likes Music, Rose Lalonde-centric, Running Away, Small Buisnesses, Small Towns, Subways, The Beta Kids Live in The Same Town, Train Rides, What Will They Do, Will Update As The Fic Goes On, and also multiple other people, apartment buildings, beta'ed by my wonderful moirail, but its not much hurt and a lot of comfort, if ur my irls seeing this fic..hi lol, so is jade
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29682111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblyParanormal/pseuds/possiblyParanormal
Summary: The girl sighed, staring off into the streetlights outside the kitchen window. Living in a townhouse wasn’t that bad, it was easy to walk to her friend’s houses for impromptu hang-outs and emotional support during bad times, but it was ever so melancholy. Life wasn’t what she had read over and over in her fantasy books and YA novels, she still had to see the world. She still had to meet people.Or: Rose read The Messed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler and ran with it/hj
Relationships: Beta Kids & Beta Trolls, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, One Sided Rose Lalonde/Jade Harley if you squint, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Kudos: 7





	1. chapter 1

Night water tastes different, anyone can tell from experience. Currently, Rose Lalonde was sitting in her small kitchen, sipping water from a fancy teacup that rivalled her disheveled hair and pajamas. The tap was dripping slowly. The multiple plumbers that had come to fix it had tried, only for it to start dripping near weeks after visits.

She sighed, staring off into the streetlights outside the kitchen window. Living in a townhouse wasn’t that bad, it was easy to walk to her friend’s houses for impromptu hang-outs and emotional support during bad times, but it was ever so melancholy. Life wasn’t what she had read over and over in her fantasy books and YA novels, she still had to see the world. She still had to meet people.

Meet someone.

Meet _the _one?__

__No, that’s stupid. Rose shook her head at the thought, the late night miasma must have been getting to her head. The water in the tea-cup ran a circle as she swirled it around, staring into the mini whirlpool as if it was about to swallow her whole._ _

__Eventually Rose snapped out of her gaze on the cup, and poured what remained of the water down the sink. She wasn’t thirsty anymore, and the night was getting older by the second. It was around 1:30, the clock on her mother’s coffee machine was usually right. Loose wooden boards creaked under Rose’s feet as she walked over to the light-switch, groaning under the slightest bit of weight. There was a click from the switch as the lights were flicked off, and in the darkness Rose retreated back upstairs to her room._ _

__As she arrived at the landing upstairs, she passed a small memorial to her dearly departed cat Jaspers. It was a nice sentiment, but she still rolled her eyes at the fact that it had been years since the cat had passed, and her mother still insisted on keeping up the small plaque that a young Rose had hastily scribbled on a piece of lined paper after getting word of her pet’s death._ _

__Rose walked across the small landing to her room, silently opening the door and letting it creak closed as she trod across the floor of her room. Well..trod as much as she could. The floor of her room looked as if Hot Topic had curled up and died all over the carpet, combined with a mixture of half finished drawings and journals. Books laid in half-read states, ranging from her mother’s copy of Frankenstein to a book from a series she had accidentally taken from her Language Arts teacher years ago. Maybe she should give those back one day._ _

__Her computer rested lazily on the top of her desk, glowing faintly from the opened tabs and multiple half-written prompts that had come to the girl in sprits of inspiration. Some were occasionally from dreams that Rose would have, others would be from interactions with her friends on their walks to the convenience store nearby. Discord was open, the little red bubble on the notif board alerting her to her group chat with her friends. There were a few goodnight messages, despite nearly everyone being active in some way still. John was listening to some music on the spotify that he had accidentally linked, which Rose constantly pestered him about. Dave?..well Rose never really knew what he was doing at any moment, it’s hard to tell what he truly means under multiple layers of sarcasm. But one day, she was going to find out what was happening. That’s a ramble for another day, however. She smiled as she sees Jade boot up this game that she’s been raving about to the group, how late it was in the night passing her mind._ _

__As Rose watched the night grow older on her laptop clock, she realized how boring it was in her town. Sure, she had her fair share of adventures with her friends, they all went to a fairly interesting school, and they were all decent people, but there was just something..missing. She thought about the train-station near the intersection to John’s house, how they passed it every time they walked to the small grocery-store for a can of Monster. She thought about all the times that her mother had taken her to the city, she had memorized the number of stops until the first exit, and soon after the second._ _

__The train._ _

__Rose swirled her mouse around on the computer screen, shaking it awake. She clicked open a new tab, and searched up the prices for tickets._ _

__One-way tickets._ _

__Shit. They’d need someone to pose as an“adult”, or at least a chaperone. No self-respecting ticket distributor would hand one-way tickets to a bunch of 14-15 year olds, especially late at night. Especially with a bunch of overstuffed backpacks. Rose leaned back in her chair, hitting the hard back panel. She sighs, a bit disappointed that her plan didn’t go as expected, even if this was fueled by sleep-deprivation. And maybe a few gay thoughts along the way._ _

__She picked up her phone from her desk, and mindlessly opened her photos. Late nights are always the best time to get sentimental, if this whole idea wasn’t a direct result of those feelings. She scrolled past photo upon photo, stopping occasionally to laugh at memories. Jade’s extra-sprinkle cookies that she had baked during a bake-off that the group had done, her and Dave standing in front of their old elementary school, John getting stuck in a tree as Dave laughed and Jade tried to get him down. She stopped on that photo, and saw how tall John was compared to everyone else._ _

__Like… seriously. Why was he so tall. For what reason._ _

__Petty remarks aside, Rose realized that her plan could actually work. John’s dad had a lot of fancy hats, if John wore one he’d probably be able to pass as at least a high school senior. Rose’s mom had a train card, she’d used it many times to take Rose to the city during her business trips. With the combined resources, they may actually be able to leave._ _

__Leave? Were they seriously going to run away? Was she really planning this?_ _

__Rose’s fingers hovered above her keyboard, as all of the actions that she had just taken caught up with her. Her stomach turned over a couple of times, giving her that queasy feeling that happens only when you know that you are making life decisions._ _

__Her fingers hit the keyboard, hastily typing out a message:_ _

__[tentacleTherapist: Hello. Who would like to run away with me? I have everything planned out. If yes, please start packing. We leave tomorrow at 8 pm.]_ _

__She breathed a sigh of relief, half-hoping that her friends would just take this as a late night story prompt put in the wrong channel. It had happened before, a late night rambling about a deadly video-game had accidentally made its way to the vent channel and everyone lost their collective mind._ _

__Rose’s stomach did a loop-the-loop as she glanced under the text box, and saw an equally excitable as dreadful message._ _

__[ectoBiologist, gardenGnostic, and turntechGodhead are typing…]_ _

__[turntechGodhead: sure why not]_ _

__[ectoBiologist: Hells of yes! We really doing this??]_ _

__[gardenGnostic: ooh!! that does sound fun rose!! is this like one of your stories??]_ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose plans her escape.

Rose barely knew what to think. Was this really going to happen? She checked her makeshift wallet, which she had formed from a failed craft idea her mother had thrown to her. It didn’t look half bad, she supposed. The fabric of the wallet had been sewn together half-heartedly, but it still held. 

Her discord was still going off like a bomb, with John and Jade asking question upon question. Dave was more chill with things, but Rose knew he had been longing to get out for a while. 

Maybe even longer than she had.

Either way, Rose returned her attention to her friends on discord, who in her short absence were trying to figure out how to get everything together. The girl sighed, as she absentmindedly untucked a stray, blonde strand of hair from behind her ear. She guessed that she had tucked it there in all of the stress. 

[ectoBiologist: Soo...what about clothes and food?? I have some money for food and snacks, but who’s gonna take care of the train tickets?]

[turntechGodhead: its fine im sure rose’ll come swooping down into the chat at any fucking moment and set all of our shit straight]

[ectoBiologist: How’s she gonna set our shit straight if she isn’t straight herself??]

[turntechGodhead: oh my fucking god]

Rose had to stifle a laugh at John’s comment, seeing the chat blow up after that with remarks such as: 

[gardenGnostic: ok boy kisser!!]

[ectoBiologist: Jade you are. Literally bi you kiss boys as well]

[gardenGnostic: shh shhh I can’t hear you john!]

Rose laughed at her friends, before jumping into the conversation.

[tentacleTherapist: While you all were discussing the topic of sexuality and who does and does not kiss boys, I have planned exactly how we are going to be leaving tomorrow. Dave, do try to remember this time.]

[turntechGodhead: hey man you cant blame me for that one i was simply vibing and lost track of time]

Rose rolled her eyes, thinking back to the time that Dave had accidentally lost track of time and forgot that everyone was hanging out. When he finally got the memo, he had sprinted over to Jade’s apartement. He arrived extremely winded, sunglasses hanging from one ear. It was the funniest shit Rose had seen in ages.

[tentacleTherapist: :eye_roll:]  
[tentacleTherapist: Anyway, here is how we are going to leave..]

She started explaining the plan to everyone. They would wear an outfit that they wouldn’t be able to be recognised in on the train, and keep their desired outfits in their bags. Everyone was to bring at least 20 dollars, but if they couldn’t that was ok. 

Her spotify switched to a new song right as she was explaining that John had to snatch one of his father’s hats to pose as their legal guardian, guitar filling her ears. Despite her outside appearance, she quite enjoyed listening to “sad boi guitar” late at night. 

[tentacleTherapist: So. Do we all understand?]

After working out all of the kinks and problems in the plan, the group had decided squarely on everything. Everyone was to say that they were going to be staying over at Dave’s for the night, and Dave was to say that he was just going to be hanging out at John’s. His bro wouldn’t double check either way.

It was a solid 4:45 in the morning when Rose finally went to bed. It wasn’t her latest time, but her mother would give her a sad look every time that she stayed up all night. So she tried to get at least a few hours of sleep. She couldn’t speak for her friends however, Jade usually stayed up until late in the night, and slept until late in the day. 

As she tumbled into a light slumber, thoughts of the latest events swirled around her head. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a tiny bit nervous. Rose turned over in her sleep, hugging onto a plush cat that she kept around. Things were alright for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a bit short and rushed, im just very excited to show yall chapter 3 its probably the best i've written in a while B)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After giving her mom one last look, Rose wheeled her bike out the door. She finally remembered not to let the door slam after her.
> 
> Or: its train day babyy

Shit! Rose was late!

She had gotten up later than she expected, completely ignoring her own advice to start packing last night. Clad in a gray sweater and black jeans, Rose was cramming folded shirts, pants, and skirts into a backpack with an attempt to make it look at least presentable and not completely fill up the bag with just clothes. She had to make space for her clunky laptop somehow! 

After filling up her school bag with clothes and her laptop, Rose carried onto her personal bag that she kept around for other items outside of school necessities. She shoved in books upon books, sketchbooks and cd’s. Her makeup bag went in as well.

She zipped up the bag, and rushed downstairs. Her mother was already on the couch, TV on and asleep. Rose glanced over at her mom and stopped, staring at the living-room from the bottom landing. 

Rose sighed, a sigh laced with melancholy and dusted with false-hope. She walked through the small dining room, to the back sunroom that claimed home to her bike. She threw her bags into the basket attached to the front handlebars, and attempted to wheel it through the house without waking up her mother. 

Once her bike was at the front door, Rose decided to write her mom a note. It read:

Dearest mother,  
I have been invited to spend the night at Dave’s, with the company of my friends John and Jade as well. We may stay over a few nights. Do not fret. 

-Rose Lalonde

She folded the note, and slipped it under her mother’s martini glass, which was resting on the table in front of the main couch. The TV was blaring a show about house improvement, a topic in which her mother had been interested in for a while. 

Once the note was folded and placed, she hurried into the kitchen where her mother usually kept her purse. It took a bit of digging, but eventually Rose came across a subway-card that her mother used to get onto the subway during her trips to the city. This would mean that the group wouldn’t have to pay for their subway trips.

After giving her mom one last look, Rose wheeled her bike out the door. She finally remembered not to let the door slam after her. 

~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

“I made it! I..whew..made it,” Rose called to her friends, slightly out of breath from having to bike all the way across town. She jumped off her bike and began walking it up the ramp. She had cut through the shortcut that she had made between the grocery store fence and the bushes that lined the rail-station platform.

“Hell yeah!” John called, who had donned a button-up shirt, white tee underneath. His dad’s hat was resting under his arm, kind of like a basketball. His backpack was a bit bulky, but that was fine. He was also carrying a side bag, one that he had since..well..ever. It was adorned with pins and buttons from places even he didn’t remember at this point.

Dave nodded a greeting, still clad in his red and white baseball tee. His shades reflected the slightly set-sun, which was glaring into nearly everyone else’s eyes. He had a band-aid on his chin, and over his hand as well. His bag was leaning against a pole, a drawing tablet peeking out of one corner. Despite the fact that he mostly drew shitposts, Dave had once admitted to Rose that he wanted to start doing art seriously. Or..more seriously than how he was taking it currently. 

“Rose!! You made it!” Jade smiled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was wearing a gray hoodie, with a black skirt that reached her ankles. Mary-janes peeped out of the tent-like skirt, rocking back and forth with every bounce. As well as her back-pack, Jade had one of her succulents with her.  
“I couldn’t quite leave behind Bec, now could I!” She explained, when she noticed Rose looking at her beloved plant. It was an extremely vibrant green, for a plant that the girl had owned for years.

“Jade, that plant is probably radioactive at this point.”

“No, he’s not! I’m just an extremely good plant owner!”

That was one thing Rose could admit, Jade was amazing at taking care of plants. Rose, on the other hand, was gifted a lavender plant by one of her mother’s friends that was already on its deathbed. Rose had done the poor plant in by either watering it too much, or not enough. She hadn’t been able to tell then and probably never will. 

“We done discussing radioactive-plants? ‘Cause that shit sounds like it's straight out of one of Rose’s story-prompts and I’m not about to go pick and choose which one we live in right now,” Dave asked, walking over from picking up his bag. 

“Dave, be serious. The prompt about the deadly video-game was extremely interesting. I may actually start writing about it.”

“Hell yeah you will, and I’ll be like..your fancy fuckin illustrator. Imagine that, Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider: dynamic duo.”

Rose laughed a bit, smiling at Dave’s dramatization of her one-shot prompt that she would probably forget in a week. 

“Well, the sun’s going down,” John noticed, turning to the group. “I think it would be the right time to get the tickets now,” He flipped the hat onto his head, and buttoned up his coat. He had managed to steal an extra pair of his Dad’s glasses as well, trading them out for his own. Instead of looking 15, the brunette instead looked as if he had a stock meeting to go to. Or a science seminar to attend. Either or. 

The group followed John to the ticket booth, where a young adult was manning the station. He was wearing a dark green sweater, a collared shirt peeking up over the rim. On the left side, there was a tiny little monster embroidered onto the chest pocket. His nametag, resting right above the embroidered fiend, read “Jake English”. The black-haired boy looked up from the book he was reading, and gave the group a friendly smile. 

“Bit late for a train ride, isn’t it mate?” He asked, a bit of a british accent tainting his voice. 

“I would assume so yes, but it really is urgent for us to catch this train,” John agreed, dropping his voice a few octaves and fixing his posture. “Can we please have four tickets to Doveton, one adult and three kids,”

“Coming right up! My friend actually works down in the Doveton Station, He’s a ticket-man just like me. Lovely bloke, name’s Dirk. Tell him Jake said hi, will you?”

“We will, don’t worry!” Jade smiled, reaching up to take her ticket from Jake. She saved the slip in one of the pockets that she had sewn into her skirt. 

“Well..I hope you have a nice trip with your kids, sir!” Jake smiled, and returned to his book. 

That was nearly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Rose had to quickly duck under her sweater, stifling back a laugh. Dave’s face shifted a little, a smile peeking up at the corners. Jade snorted a bit, nearly drawing the attention of Jake. John however, was trying the hardest to keep a straight face. 

“Yeah! You too!” He smiled, then shooed his “kids” off to the opposite end of the platform. 

The air felt thick with silence, no-one really wanting to touch upon the honest mistake that the ticket-man had made. Everyone was silent for a few seconds more, before Dave continued the joke with:

“So dad..are you gonna help me tie my shoes or no?”

And everyone lost it.

Rancorous laughter erupted from the group, warm and comfortable. John was wiping tears from his eyes, as Rose was doubled over with laughter. Even Dave was laughing a bit, looking around at the reaction to his ingenious joke. 

“God, Dave, you gotta chill with the jokes dude! We almost blew our cover!” John wheezed, looking over at Jake in the ticket-booth. He had his headphones in, engrossed in his book. Luckily, they were the only ones on the train platform. 

Their laughter died down in fizzles and pops, simmering to a silence that rested comfortably on the shoulders of the group. They stood around in silence for a while, looking at the golden light bouncing off the greenery. School was out, and had been for a few weeks. That didn’t stop Jade from wearing a hoodie though, she was always really cold. That wasn’t a problem however, it just meant that her room was filled with more blankets, pillows, and stuffies than normal.

After waiting a bit, eventually the train was heard. Its horn could be heard across the town, Rose knew from the fact that she had been woken up from many a midday nap with the faint blare of a train pulling into the usually vacant station.

Dave and John looked up from their Switches, which they had both packed. Jade hadn’t gotten out her Switch, but the two boys had set up an impromptu Splatoon gaming session. Jade had spent her time looking over Dave’s shoulder, or looking around. 

The train pulled into the station with a squeal of metal pushing against each other, and the hiss of the rails connecting with the wheels. The doors opened, and a train attendant stepped out. She welcomed the kids onto the train, which John jumped at. Dave and Jade were soon to follow, with Rose being left as the last one on. As she stepped on the tiny stairwell, the blonde had the urge to look behind her.

Sitting in the bike stand, was arguably her most prized possession. Her bike. Once, many months ago, the girl had dreamed of going to college, riding her bike along the streets of a quaint college town in the mainland of a coast state. Now, she was running away based solely on a whim. A flight of fancy. She’d never see that bike again. 

Rose turned back to the inside of the train, her friends waiting for her. They had picked a corner seat, with enough room for each kid to sit with each other. She entered the lobby of the train, the attendant pulling the doors closed behind her. 

The girl joined her friends sitting in the train car, grabbing a window-seat before John could. As the group settled in, throwing backpacks under seats and getting out media to keep them busy, the same train attendant came back.

“Tickets, please!” she smiled, the faintest british accent to her voice as well. What was with all of these people being british? 

John started fumbling in his pockets for the tickets, until he came up with the little slips of paper. The train attendant (her name tag said her name was Calliope), clicked the tickets, and handed them back to John. 

“Hope you have a good ride sir!” 

“You too!” John smiled, before he realized his mistake. “OH UHH...yeah..” he muttered, before eventually dropping the topic.  
Calliope the train attendant walked to another car, and from there to the front of the train. There was a small interlude of time before the train started, slowly pulling out of the station. Rose looked out the window, seeing the platform slowly fading from view. The girl put her headphones in, flicking through apps to Spotify. Guitar filled her ears, combining with the sounds of the train itself. A mechanic voice flicked on the intercom, announcing the train’s next stop. 

_...city line, and national rail services.. ___

__The setting sun filtered through the trees flying past, occasionally hitting Rose’s eyes. She looked over to her friends, who were all in different emotional states. Rose rested her head on Jade’s lap, allowing herself to drop her guard, if for but a few minutes._ _

__The light slowly dimmed even more, giving off that summer night air. John’s head was resting on Dave’s shoulder, and Jade had scootched a bit to rest under his arm. Rose was still lying on Jade’s lap, watching the bags under their seats jostle with the movement of the train._ _

__As the group fell into a comfortable, collective slumber, the song continued playing in Rose’s ears._ _

_there’s a reason, that London puts barriers on the tube line.. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER THREE MY BELOVED
> 
> anyway this one is a lot longer than the other two because ive had this chapter planned for weeks  
> also yeah thats Jubilee Line by Wilbur Soot, homestuck n dsmp have me in a choke hold rn so why not combine them!

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is so self indulgent you dont even know-  
> anyway here's a playlist for this fic!  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06lQMcxItrX8KfoPTjhEhq?si=60efa05825fa45fb


End file.
